I Can't See You Anymore
by alittlebitofmadness
Summary: "He made you promise, didn't he? To stay away from me, to keep me safe." Gwen's point of view. Based on the 2012 movie The Amazing Spider-Man. Spoilers.


"_He made you promise didn't he? To stay way from me, to keep me safe."_

Gwen was struggling to stop the tears in her eyes from falling by that point. She knew she should've just walked away. She should've just accepted what Peter had said and leave. She wasn't exactly sure what held her there; what urged her to turn around and ask him about it. She didn't want to believe all this had happened.

After all those years of constantly having the thought of an officer ringing the doorbell of her house and informing her father had died, and having it come true - everything was hard to comprehend. The funeral was so blurry in her memory; a mix of "I'm sorry", "He was a great man" and so many different condolences from people still echoing in her head.

She had waited for Peter to turn up. She waited for him before the funeral began, throughout the service, even after everyone but her and her mother and brothers were left at the grave. He left her alone and it felt like she'd lost him along with her father.

At first, Gwen was afraid. She tried to give Peter a reason for not turning up. He was injured, he was stopped from going, he thought she didn't want him there – but inside she knew even if he were injured he'd turn up, even if he were being stopped from coming he'd find a way to come even if it involved violence, and that despite everything she'd always want him to turn up.

It was three days later when she finally pushed herself to see him. She had missed the past few days at school to be with her mother and brothers, so for all she knew he could be . . . she couldn't even think about the word without flinching. She pushed the idea away because she kept an eye on the news and the death of Spider-Man/Peter Parker never once was shown.

It was raining heavily as though the weather was reflecting how she felt. Gwen was exhausted and her stomach did multiple turns as she walked to Peter's house. She argued with herself to wait until school the next day to see him, but she couldn't go to sleep she knew without knowing he was okay, and had an explanation for not speaking to her for the last days.

When he answered the door, Gwen realised she had no idea what she was going to say. Partially she didn't think he'd answer the door; she guessed his aunt would and to be faced with him straight away sent her a little back.

She took in his face for a moment. It was still healing but looked relatively good considering what news coverage she'd seen of the wreckage he and Dr. Connors left behind; she could only imagine how much pain he would've had to create it.

Gwen suddenly felt small as she asked, "Where've you been?"

"Hi," he whispered, so quietly that Gwen almost failed to hear it. He seemed to try respond with something longer, but he didn't say anything more. Looking at him, Gwen suddenly felt anger. She was the one who came all the way out here to see him and he wasn't even looking at her. She knew, she knew it was hurting him but all she wanted was for him to comfort her, to tell her what had happened, to tell her "I'm sorry" and "He was a great man" and he wasn't doing that.

"My father died," she said in a voice that didn't sound far away from cracking. Although she knew Peter already knew it, she still wanted to say it outloud. It still sounded odd, out of place . . . but something about it was such a harsh remainder and she wanted Peter to think about it. Her father was dead; he was never coming back.

Peter looked down, silent. Gwen felt colder, as the rain continued to pour down; the sound was oddly relaxing.

"There was a funeral," she told him. She wasn't sure what she was getting at by this point; her words were fast and looking at Peter all she wanted to do was cry. She broke off her last sentence for a moment, biting her lower lip as she watched Peter. He still hadn't said anything, but the look on his face was almost unbearable for Gwen.

"All my teachers showed up," she managed to continue. By this point, Peter was finally looking at her. "Flash showed up."

Again, she paused. The tears had escaped and she was trying not to tremble. "Everyone was there, but you."

Peter reached out his hand to her, and although the feel of his thumb on her cheek was brief, painfully brief, she needed it. She needed him so badly and it was so hard to stand there with the sound of rain filling her ears and her eyes on the expression he wore.

"I can't do this," he said. His eyes had filled with water and Gwen had to refrain herself from speaking to stop him from finally cutting their last tie together. "I can't do this. I'm sorry – I can't do this."

She already knew what he meant, but she still had to ask. "What are you saying?"

Peter's eyes; so familiar, so pained meet hers. "I can't see you anymore. I can't."

Gwen watched as a tear rolled down his cheek, and it took her a moment before she could react. She looked at him before she turned and put up her umbrella, not even caring about getting wet from the damn rain anymore.

It was then she knew she should've just walked away, but she couldn't just do that. A part of her was, and always would be, with Peter Parker. She wished so hard it wasn't at that moment but she needed to know, needed to confirm he was doing this because of her father. He wasn't doing this because he didn't care anymore, he was doing this because he cared too much.

"He made you promise didn't he? To stay way from me, to keep me safe."

Peter hadn't uttered a word but his eyes told her everything. It told her he was sorry, he loved her, he hated this as much as she did and she had to go because the longer she was there, the harder it'd be for both of them. She knew Peter Parker; knew how his eyes would light up when he got excited or happy, knew how he pushed people away when bad things happened such as his uncle's death, knew he was still a teenager who needed time to deal with things and most importantly knew that he couldn't let Spider-Man go.

Gwen Stacy turned, blinking back tears, and walked away from him, listening to the sound of the rain beating down.


End file.
